What's the state of the Middle Level?

[starman]

The title says it all - what's the through route like for depth and the dreaded weed. The last stretch from Upwell to Salters was pretty shallow and grim when we came through earlier in the year.

[waterwitch]

No idea but we are heading that way so will soon find out. Our last experience of that stretch was twenty years ago in a 54'x10' wide beam. It was an interesting trip to say the least. I'm hoping that a 60' narrow boat will have fewer problems with the depth but have no silly illusions that the weed problem will have improved.

 

Fortunately for me weed declogging is very much a Blue Job...along with cassette emptying!

[Athy]

Plenty of boats passing our house over the last few days and I have not seen one in any difficulty.

[starman]

I can answer my own question now we've reached Peterborough. It's getting pretty weedy in the usual places - from Floods Ferry Bridge for about a mile or so (towards Whittlesey) and then for the first half mile after Whittlesey it's horrible - Briggate Bend seems even narrower and shallower than usual - and finally for the stretch from the A605 bridge to Stanground is weedy.

Depth-wise Outwell and Upwell were pretty shallow, messy and slow for us but easier than a couple of months back when we could barely move all the way virtually to Salters Lode.

So, the dear old Middle Level is pretty much as it's always been - not a whole lot of laughs if you have a deep drafted boat like ours.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Also heading that way. I'll keep an eye out for Harry. Also saw Hawkeye yesterday.

[starman]

Afraid you won't see us. We are heading for Wisbech and a Wash crossing - weather permitting.

[by'eck]

I need to use this route in early October travelling from Northampton to Ely for winter mooring. Am I likely to have any issues with a 60 foot nb drawing 32 inches?

[Happy Go Lucky]

Anyone passing the March artillery display site is welcome to wave at us

 

Any day now I'll get round to starting the topcoat!

[FadeToScarlet]

I need to use this route in early October travelling from Northampton to Ely for winter mooring. Am I likely to have any issues with a 60 foot nb drawing 32 inches?

Draft won't be a problem, Willow at 3' is slowed a lot but can churn through Upwell and.Outwell. 60' means you'll get through Salter's Lode on the high tide, so no problems.

 

You can get through the Middle Level in a day, but it's worth a stop at Whittlesea, and certainly at least a tea or beer break in Upwell and Outwell on the public staithe.

[Phil Ambrose]

Anyone passing the March artillery display site is welcome to wave at us

 

Any day now I'll get round to starting the topcoat!

Yay! Way to go Geoff

Phil

[starman]

I need to use this route in early October travelling from Northampton to Ely for winter mooring. Am I likely to have any issues with a 60 foot nb drawing 32 inches?

As F to S says you should be fine at 32ins; we too are 36. The dreaded weed can still be an issue though. When we went through one October we were dredging up rotted down stuff from the bottom and getting snarled up in it.

I think a lot depends on the levels of the Levels - as they are drainage channels the Commisioners can vary them to suit those requirements.

Yes stop in Whittlesey, maybe divert to Ramsey, March is a handy shopping and toilet stop with good moorings and upwell a pretty spot..

[by'eck]

As F to S says you should be fine at 32ins; we too are 36. The dreaded weed can still be an issue though. When we went through one October we were dredging up rotted down stuff from the bottom and getting snarled up in it.

I think a lot depends on the levels of the Levels - as they are drainage channels the Commisioners can vary them to suit those requirements.

Yes stop in Whittlesey, maybe divert to Ramsey, March is a handy shopping and toilet stop with good moorings and upwell a pretty spot..

 

Thanks to you and F to S. Put my mind at rest. I've driven past most of these places but never on the water.

[by'eck]

Update for anyone taking the Middle Level route to the Great Ouse having just arrived in Ely.

Not too bad en-route from Peterborough to Whittlesey with normal canal speeds maintained on my 34" draught boat. Moored there overnight after negotiating the very tight bend in the town. Again the following day reasonable speeds maintained until shortly before Flood's Ferry where shallow water combined with very bad wool like weed encountered, taking speed below 2 mph for a good half mile. Quick run into and out of March though.

Phoned the lady at Marmont Priory lock but operated it by myself as she had to pop out. Slow passage through Upwell and Outwell which go on forever. After lunch stop at Outwell basin, expected quick run to Salters Lode but no such luck. Shallow water continued to give speeds only a little over 2 mph despite water being pumped into this pound from the Main drain below as it was passed over on the aqueduct.

Hadn't been able to phone the day before as the network appeared to be down, but this was on a Wednesday which is Paul, the resident lockies day off. Was pleased to see another trad 60 foot narrowboat arrive Thursday morning. I had calculated high tide at Salters Lode around 2pm and was expecting travel on a falling tide, so was a little surprised when I was asked to enter the lock at 1130, being the first there. The outer hydraulic reverse gates were used since I would be dropping down onto a rising tide. This also means well over 60 feet can easily be accommodated. The guillotine gate was then lifted and I was ushered out into little more than a muddy ditch - see below and probably shallower than this as photo taken the evening before!

 

Paul suggested I tried to move forward in the shallow water to allow gate to be lowered so the second boat could be locked in. Managed this and was asked to wait with the proviso that I would need to counter the outflow with reverse when he raised the gate again. Although there are paddles within that could have given a more controlled outflow, they were not even covered given the still low level. At least I wasn't going anywhere sandwiched between the wall of tyres and guiding fence, not to mention the mudbank still much in evidence despite seeing a six inch rise whilst waiting.

 

Although Paul gave me warning I wasn't expecting the one foot wall of water that tried to jettison me prematurely into the Ouse. The black smoking engine had little effect as I was thrown 20 feet forward before the surge subsided and I crawled back. With the second boat still behind me in the lock, Paul took a perspective on the tidal rise and shortly after suggested I make an exploratory move forward to check for depth. Despite starting to go aground, a few seconds wait for the very low frequency tidal surge had me lifted clear and after a couple of last minute pointers was heading out to make the 120° turn south to Denver Sluice little over a quarter of a mile way. The advantage of making this short passage on a rising tide is that the current helps the turn enormously and any groundings will only be temporary.

 

I was soon dropping the engine back to idle to allow another opposite direction boat out of the Denver lock before entering what is known as the "Little Eye". The huge Denver Sluice structure comprises of two locks and three sluices. Little and Big Eye at left and right respectively with the two way sluices sandwiched in between. Not even sure if the Big Eye is working but its only for the very largest boats. After a short wait for the second boat to arrive and maybe a one foot rise, the southern gate was lifted and we were both let loose on the wide Great Ouse where the JP was at last wound up on low compression as the prop bit on water rather than mud and weed.

Edited October 3, 2014 by by'eck

[starman]

Surprised he let you out with the water that low. It was a lot higher when we went through though still a rising tide.

Enjoy the Great Ouse - we had no real issues with depth anywhere and we are 36ins deep. Hope you're planning a good explore - the Wissey is lovely and the other tribs good too. Prickwillow pumping museum a must. We even went down the Lode to Burwell tho I guess it's much more weedy now.

And levels generally may have suffered given the lack of rain.

[David Mack]

The outer hydraulic reverse gates were used since I would be dropping down onto a rising tide. This also means well over 60 feet can easily be accommodated though.

You can get a 70 footer between the outer gates and the guillotine. We did that in Fulbourne on the way to the St Ives National in 2007. Only in that case due to the amount of flood water in the Ouse and some siltation downstream, we were locking UP a few inches into the Ouse even right at the bottom of the tide. Another boater kept his finger on the hydraulic 'close' button as we rose on the 'wrong' side of the gates!

[ditchcrawler]

 

Update for anyone taking the Middle Level route to the Great Ouse having just arrived in Ely.

Not too bad en-route to Whittlesey with normal canal speeds maintained on my 34" draught boat. Moored there overnight after negotiating the very tight bend in the town. Again reasonable speeds maintained until shortly before Flood's Ferry where shallow water combined with very bad weed encountered, taking speed below 2 mph for a good half mile. Quick run into and out of March though.

Phoned the lady at Marmont Priory lock but operated it by myself as she had to pop out. Slow passage through Upwell and Outwell which go on forever. After lunch stop at Outwell basin, expected quick run to Salters Lode but no such luck. Shallow water continued to give speeds only a little over 2 mph.

Hadn't been able to phone lockie the day before as phone network appeared to be down, but this was on a Wednesday when Pete is not personally in attendance. Thursday morning another 60 foot narrowboat arrived. I had calculated high tide at Salters Lode around 2pm and was expecting travel on a falling tide, so was a little surprised when I was asked to enter the lock at 1130, being the first there. The outer hydraulic reverse gates were used since I would be dropping down onto a rising tide. This also means well over 60 feet can easily be accommodated though. The guillotine gate was then lifted and I was ushered out into little more than a muddy ditch - see below.

 

Pete suggested I tried to move forward in the shallow water to allow gate to be lowered so the second boat could be locked in. Managed this and was asked to wait with the proviso that I would need to counter the outflow with reverse when he raised the gate again. Although there are paddles within that could have given a more controlled outflow, they were not even covered given the still low level. At least I wasn't going anywhere sandwiched between the wall of tyres and guiding fence, not to mention the mudbank still much in evidence despite seeing a six inch rise whilst waiting.

 

Although Pete gave me warning I wasn't expecting the one foot wall of water that tried to jettison me prematurely into the Ouse. The black smoking engine had little effect as I was thrown 20 feet forward before the surge subsided and I crawled back. With the second boat still behind me in the lock, Pete took a perspective on the tidal rise and shortly after suggested I make an exploratory move forward to check for depth. Despite starting to go aground, a few seconds wait for the very low frequency tidal surge had me lifted clear and after a couple of last minute pointers was heading out to make the 120° turn south to Denver Sluice little over a quarter of a mile way. The advantage of making this short passage on a rising tide is that the current helps the turn enormously and any groundings will only be temporary.

 

I was soon dropping the engine back to idle to allow another opposite direction boat out of the Denver lock before entering what is known as the "Little Eye". The huge Denver Sluice structure comprises of two locks and three sluices. Little and Big Eye at left and right respectively with the two way sluices sandwiched in between. Not even sure if the Big Eye is working but its only for the very largest boats. After a short wait for the second boat to arrive and maybe a one foot rise, the southern gate was lifted and we were both let loose on the wide Great Ouse where the JP was at last wound up on low compression as the prop bit on water rather than mud and weed.

 

Paul was probably hoping to move some of the mud letting the water out with you sitting there. The Big Eye has not been used for several years.